FrogPrincesse

Very nice. The ratios in the Imbibe/320 Main version are quite different from what I am used to (very light on the maraschino and grapefruit!), and they serve it on crushed ice. That sounds wonderful too. And that reminds me that I need to go to 320 Main very soon.

Hemingway Daiquiri for me last night. 1.5 oz white rum (Flor de Caña), 1 oz (oro blanco) grapefruit juice, 0.75 oz maraschino liqueur, 0.5 oz lime juice, brandied cherry garnish. It felt great, especially after having a particularly bad one at a bar not too long ago (I suspect their grapefruit juice was stale, because their second attempt was not much better than the first).

My modest contributation to the thread - a couple of specimens (that I did not make, but that I wanted include for reference purposes). Maybe this will inspire me to try making my own version soon! I got the first one at a Vietnamese/French/Swedish bakery today (Sorrento European Bakery). For the meat, they had a few options that included pork with pate or bbq pork. They recommended the bbq pork so that's what I got. For some reason, the banh mi sandwiches always seem to be wrapped in the same manner- in paper with a little rubber band. Inside were all the traditional garnishes: carrots, cucumber, daikon, jalapeno, cilantro, spicy mayo. The verdict: meh. The thick skin on the cucumber was a turn off, and the vegetables hardly tasted pickled. There was no enough vinegar to offset the rich mayonnaise. But the meat was not bad and the baguette was crispy and warm. Also this was less than $4, a bargain. My current favorite is this twist on the traditional banh mi by MIHO, a local foodtruck. A few key points: They use a high quality baguette (clearly baked that day) Good pickled veggies Pork belly... what else can I say A little heavy on the mayo for me, but still very good. More expensive (about $8).

The classic Quiche Lorraine recipe from the book has become my favorite, after using the Alton Brown "refrigerator pie" version for years. When some people use heavy cream or half and half (or even milk, as my mother used to - the horror!) for the filling, Anne Willan uses crème fraîche. This is a really traditional version and therefore it does not contain any cheese, but you get some cheesiness from the cream. The filling is just the crème fraîche, a couple of eggs, some nutmeg, and the slightly browned lardons (which would normally be smoked - I used a mixture of homecured "fresh bacon" and store-bought boar bacon). It puffed a lot and deflated after I took it out of the oven. I like to think that the tanginess of the crème fraîche cuts through some of the richness of the dish. It's great with a green salad (with a vinegar-heavy dressing). I like prepare a double batch of pastry dough, and keep the second tart pan lined with the dough and ready to go in the freezer, that way I can make quiche again whenever the mood strikes.

While going through pictures for the previous post, I stumbled upon some pictures that my husband took of Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach last year. We did not know what to expect, but thought it was a great sign when we saw this guy carving tikis in the adjacent parking lot. When we got in, we were immediately transported into a different world. The bar area is beautifully decorated. We went at lunch time and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The food was decent and the drinks were great. We were relieved to see that the cocktail menu had a solid selection of classics. This is how they serve the Three Dots and a Dash. I can't remember what rums they were using - my excuse is that I was sipping a Zombie 1934 and can't remember much else :-) Some more eye candy. If you are a regular, you can keep your special mug in this cabinet.

I've been craving a Three Dots and a Dash for a while now, and realized I was being silly because the only reason I was not making one was because I did not have a pineapple spear for the garnish. The recipe is from Sippin' Safari (for those who don't have the book, rumdood/Matt Robold provided it on his blog here - but I believe he is missing a dash of Angostura bitters!). As opposed to the pretty tame Sumatra Kula, the Three Dots and a Dash explodes with spice, with a trifecta of pimento dram, falernum AND angostura bitters! Regarding the rum, with 1.5 oz of aged rhum agricole (I used La Favorite Coeur de Rhum) and 0.5 oz of Demerara rum (I used El Dorado 5 yr), it is particularly flavorful (and strong!). A great classic. Last year during a cocktail symposium at Tiki Oasis, Martin Cate had us deconstruct this cocktail by trying to identify each one of its 8 ingredients. He was using a different rum mix - obviously the aged agricole is not very cost-effective. I do however highly recommend using the agricole in this drink, because it stands up to the spices and makes the drink extraordinary.

I think Mjx is here per the OP: Thanks. I need better glasses :-)

Homemade elderflower cordial, how cool. I can't help it but the Monty Pythons come to mind whenever I hear about elderberries. Did you say what part of Denmark you are in? I had a chance to visit Copenhagen last year and had a great time.

The glasses were a fantastic gift from a friend. You see them on eBay occasionally.

Quick trip report from Santa Barbara where I spent a few days last week. Part 1 - Hungry Cat We had dinner the first night at Hungry Cat. I've been wanting to try that restaurant for a while now, being a fan of aoc/lucques in LA. This was a more casual setting (as expected). The drinks were nice, but not exactly spirit-forward as Dave already pointed out upthread. Nothing bad, but not great either. I had the Pimlico (described on the menu as: early times whisky, lime & orange juice, fresh mint). It tasted like a mojito and I would not have been able to tell that this was whisky. Our young daughter was with us and they didn't offer any special menu options for kids, so we had to order a $16 burger for her, which was slightly annoying - she ended up eating only a very small portion of it and we had to slice it in half because it was way too thick for her. We shared a plate of fried oysters for our appetizer (I believe it was $15 for 3 oysters.... the menu did not specify the number of oysters so this came as a surprise), then I had the clams with chorizo and kale, and my husband had the local king salmon with faro. We ended our meal with the chocolate bread pudding which I did not really care for. Overall, the food was good, a little pricey for what it was, but nicely prepared. Small portions too - I am not a big eater but I would have been happy to see a few more clams on my plate. King salmon Clams with chorizo.

I tried the Sumatra Kula last night, an early creation from Don the Beachcomber that is documented in Sippin' Safari. It combines white rum with orange (blood orange - my modification), lime, and grapefruit juices, and honey syrup as the sweetener. It is not Don's most memorable work - it does not help that his master piece, the Zombie, was created around the same time - but it was what I was looking for, something fresh highlighting the grapefruit, with the honey providing additional interest. Surprisingly subtle for a Don the Beachcomber creation.

On the thread about honey in mixed drinks, I discussed the Brooklynite, a daiquiri with dark rum, honey syrup, and Angostura bitters. Another daiquiri variation that I tried last week for the first time is the Daiquiri no. 2. It's a classic daiquiri (white rum, lime juice, simple syrup) with a barspoon each of orange juice and curaçao. I broke open my new bottle of Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao for the occasion. Compared to Cointreau, it is drier and has a more complex aroma (heavy on the peel) - really nice. I can't wait to use it in a Mai Tai. I am not a huge fan of orange juice in cocktails and like blood oranges much better, so that's what I used. To me, they have a berry flavor that comes out in the finish and is very pleasant. Plus I love the color.

dcarch - Thanks! In our household the roe is the cook's treat (i.e., my husband does not care for it). I grilled the roe in the shell and ate it on a slice of baguette. It disappeared before I remembered to take a picture. With the leftover lobster meat from the knuckles I made a simple salad of "freckles" lettuce (a type of romaine with burgundy spots), dressed with a little bit of homemade green goddesss dressing and plenty of chives from the patio.

The Devil's Playground looks great. I need to pick up a bottle of Cassis.... There are lots of other options for you in the Genever thread. Recently, I've really liked the intensity of the Ice Pick (genever, maraschino liqueur, violette liqueur, orange bitters, lemon twist) and the Holland Razor Blade (genever, lemon, simple, cayenne pepper). It's also great in a John Collins.

You could probably fix that with a dash of grapefruit bitters. Of course. In these cocktails though, I think what I appreciate the most is being able to taste the delicate floral flavor of the grapefruit, rather than the strong bitterness typically associated with grapefruit.

Mjx? I believe she was in Florence recently.

One of the great classic grapefruit cocktails is of course the Hemingway Daiquiri. Substitute lemon for lime, and gin for rum, and you get The Sands, a cocktail created at Milk & Honey and currently on the menu at the Varnish in LA, a sister bar of Milk & Honey where I first heard about this cocktail. Delicious. I used an oro blanco grapefruit which is very fragrant and lacks bitterness.

Looks like an interesting book. Please tell us more!

I don't think so, at least not recently. A west coast gathering sounds like a GREAT idea. Are you volunteering to organize it? ;-)

Saffron is quite popular and the food is ok, but it's nothing remarkable. It is noticeably better when Su-Mei Yu is in the kitchen.

The Brooklynite: Jamaican rum, lime juice, honey syrup, angostura bitters. Similar to the Captain's Blood but with honey syrup instead of simple. It feels a little lighter than the Captain's Blood, with a slight fruit flavor from the honey.

Congratulations on the new job and best of luck to you!

Looking at the various suggestions in the WSJ article makes me think that a Rye Smash would be another nice summer addition for your lineup. Delicious and pretty easy to make.

Thanks Emily, I would never have thought of putting limes in the blender! I will try this recipe soon.

Celebratory mood this weekend so we grilled a couple of lobsters. The female had the most beautiful light pink flesh. I was tempted to eat it raw. Here there are before and after the grill. A little bit of butter and a squeeze of lemon, very simple. We grilled a couple of zucchini with Za'atar as an accompaniment.